Preparing for the next stage …

It’s a bit of a truism that a project bike is never finished. However, in the three years I’ve been working on the Katana, I have always known there were major bits of work that need to be done.

• Chassis including bracing and suspension
• Engine including carbs and exhaust
• Electrics
• Paint including seat cover.

None of these areas have been finished entirely. We have made massive steps forward in chassis and engine, but I’m still not happy. Until the exhaust is made and fitted it’s pointless doing any more work on setting up the carbs. Electrics remain largely untouched other than lobbing together GSX, GSXR, and Dyna2000 looms with period switchgear. Obviously there is no point spending money on paint and powder coating etc. until your fundamentals are right.

So .. spurred on by the wonderful trip through France in September, I’ve been saving slowly for the next stage and I had thought it would be next winter before I had the funds to go for a Racefit exhaust. However, an unexpected tax rebate has allowed me the to consider a Racefit exhaust earlier than expected and we can add a complete rewire to the list to complete this winter.

A few weeks ago I picked up the phone to John at Racefit. This is the second time I’ve talked to him, and we’d discussed doing the exhaust before Christmas. However, his workshop was crammed, and I figured I was in no rush as I’d prefer some time to prep for the new exhaust anyhow. I’m booked in Mid-February. The plan is to use the Racefit Legend as template, but provide a double length exhaust collector. This should maintain the free flowing nature of the exhaust, but contain the dB enough to allow running the occasional 105dB trackday.

The exhaust should look something like this when finished.

Before the exhaust can be custom fitted, it does require a few modifications to the bike. The sump needs changing to one from the Bandit 1200, as the GSXR1100 sump has a large oil well in the centre of the sump, while the Bandit’s is offset and allows a straighter run for the Racefit legend.

Stage one was accomplished pretty easily with the help of eBay. The sump has now been changed to a Mk1 bandit sump .. for reference the LHS oil return needs changing to 16530-27A02 as the tabs on it are longer and allow for the longer high pressure wotsname on the bandit sump. We (the trusty Neil and I) managed to swop with no dramas other than:

• Bloody eBay sellers  – the sump arrived with a helicoil insert in the sump plug so I cannot leave my oil temp sender in situ as the helicoil limits the depth. I’ve opted to by another sump rather than drill and tap another spot for the oil temp sender or redo the helical on the existing sump.
• The bandit oil feed and return to the oil cooler are a little higher .. so I had to shorten the oil lines slightly and re-route them either side of the oil filter.
• The GSXR1100 bolt set is not an exact match for the Bandit Mk1 sump bolt set … no shit Sherlock … the fitting was easily sorted from the spares tub.

On the plus side there is now loads of space for a 4-1 exhaust to run straight underneath. I also decided that it was about time I changed the rear sets. Best do that now before the the custom exhaust is fitted.

So we have gone from this to this:

 

Some close ups:

 

So that’s the bike ready mechanically to accept the new custom exhaust. All Harris rearset work done by Spike at Cambridge Motorcycles – so go and show them some love if you like what you see.

There is the small issue of swopping the sump again (one is on the way as I type this blog post) … but it really is a small issue which will wait until after the rewire, but before the bike goes to Racefit.

So next up is a total rewire. I had few issues with over charging and bulbs blowing on the summer trip in France. I’ve always known a rewire would be needed. We broadly have a GSX1100ESD wiring loom mated to a GSXR1100M engine and GSX750S Katana running gear, with a Dyna2000 ignition and coils, and a Yoshimura temp gauge. I hate electrics – in fact it amazes me I’ve managed to get the bike this far on the electrical side of things – I really really hate doing electrics. So best we leave this job to an expert.

Rupeswires comes highly recommend, is just up the road from me, and has worked on a variety of bikes. We plan to add a relay to the charging system (as per OldSkoolSuzuki recommendations) and do a total gut and start from scratch. We’re booked in with Rupe in a weeks time!